Decline of India
New Delhi: An impressive record of economic growth on the one hand, with a negligible growth in agriculture and allied activities on the other; a growing middle class of around 100 million with annual incomes ranging from Rs. 2 lakh to Rs. 10 lakh, alongside a 260 million population without income to access a consumption basket; a surging services sector fuelling the country’s economic boom while the traditional manufacturing sector trails behind; falling import tariffs pitted against a complex export regime — India’s contrasting economic canvas was the subject of a review by the Trade Policy Review Body (TPRB) of the WTO during the two-day appraisal held on May 23 and 25. The review revealed a mixed bag of remarkable achievements bundled with significant shortfalls.
Farmers Left High & Dry
New Delhi: For 60 years after “independence,” over 66% of cultivation in the country is still dependent on rains. Irrigated land accounts for 47 million hectares (Mha) and produces 56% of food-grains, while the rain-dependent 95 Mha yields just 44%. Providing water to this vast, unirrigated swath would not only boost food production but also help struggling farmers out of poverty. According to the Ministry of Water Resources, there are 388 incomplete irrigation projects across India. Of these, 340 were started before 1992, and 40 even before 1974. Till 2003, Rs. 78,449.63 crore had already been spent on them, and an additional Rs. 89,872.72 crore was needed to complete them. Had these projects been completed on time, over 20 Mha of land would have come under irrigation. However, only about 7 Mha worth of irrigation facilities have actually been created.
Mess in Higher Education
New Delhi: The University Grants Commission (UGC) has made a startling admission: Over half of the students who pass class-XII don’t even enter the higher education sector. Furthermore, 90% of colleges and 68% of universities across the country are of middling or poor quality. On almost all indicators — from faculty standards to library facilities, from computer availability to student-teacher ratio — higher education is in crying need of an upgrade. The “quality gap” in both universities and colleges is alarming: 25% faculty positions in universities remain vacant, 57% teachers in colleges do not have either an M.Phil or Ph.D.
